Improvement in hay and cotton-pbesses



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Leners Paten: No. 77,852, and May 12, 185s.

IMPROVEMENT 4III-HAY A ND COTTON-PRESSES.

dite Stigehule :mmh tu in ttm Entersistmt me making nari nf the same.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CON-CERN:

Be' it known lthat I, GREY UTLEY, ot 0harlotte,'in the county of Mecklenburg, and State of North Carolina,

have invented a new and improved Hay and Cotton-Press and I do hereby declare-that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the` same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1l is an end elevation.

Figure 2 is a side elevation.

Figure .8 .is a longitudinal-vertical seetion of the blocks G H.

Figure 4 is a top view of the eeccntriccollar ma Figure 5 is a top view of the blocks G H.

'Figure 6 is a 'view of one of the levers. In this invention the form of the press-box and platen is the same as that now' in commen use, but,'by a new arrangement ot' guide-rods for the platen, in connection with a novel clamp and hand-levers, I-amenabled to operate my press by hand more rapidly and with greater advantage, in regard to the application of. the power and its full utilization, than any of the hand or powerpresses now in use.

AIn the drawings, A represents the walls of the press-box, and B B its frame, C beingits door, and b b bars by which it is held in position while the press is in operation. D is the platen, provided with two arms, `d d, at euch end,'which project through and slide up and down in vertcalslots e e in the end of the press-box.

E E are two stout vertical iron guide-rods, one at each end of the press,aud supported by the'itop and bottom timbers of -its fra-me, and G H are two sliding blocks, at each end of the'press, through the centre of which one of the rods E E passes, the arms d d of the platen being rigidly secured to the under side, of the upper block, G, so that the latter, as it moves up and down on the vertical rod, carries the platen with it.

` The form and construction of the blocks G H are clearly shown in igs. 3 and 4. Each is providedwith a central recess or chamber, I, through which the rod E passes, and'in which two 'clamping-doge, iz', operate against the rod,'one on. each side of it. The outer ends of the do'gs -rest against the end wall of the chamber I, under a projecting ledge, c. Their inner ends are vertically grooved, so as to clasp the rods more iirlnly, and, when in operation, they le` against the rods, as shown in iig. 3. In this way they allow the blocks Gr II to slip freely down on the rods', but the instant it begins to rise they set themselves iirmly against the rod, 'on each side, and' stop the blocks from moving upward., In order, however, to ,render them capable of allowing the blocks-t0 rise, I provide cach-of them with a bent arm, a, which extends upward towards the red,-'and I provide a sliding eccentric-block or collar, m, which rests by its own weight upon vthe upper edgeof the bloeksG H, b etween the ends of ,the arms a a,'and serves, when tnr ned in one direction, to throw said arms apart and prevent thedoge from pressing against the rod; and when in another position, to allow the armste approach each other farther, ,and the dogs to operate against the rod, as above explained.'

. Having. thus constructed the blocks-G H, I employ4 two' of them, at each end of the press, in the following 'maunerz The upper one, G, is attached to the platen as lpeforsdescribed. The lower' one, H, operates beneath it simply as a shifting-fulcrum for the levers J J, a link, L, depending from the upper block, and which the level' passes through, serving to receiveandcommunicate 'to the upper block the power exerted by the lever.

f' -Tho operation of' the press is as follows: The platen being raised, end the box lled with cotton or hay, I swing the link outward a little, put my lever through it, and raise the block E until the end of the lever can be slipped under it. VI then turnthe e ecentric-collar*m,-so that the dogs can operate, and I press down upon the outer end of the lever, causing-the 'link to descend, and with it the platen. i I then raise the outer end of the lever, when the lower block slipsdown on tho rod, by its own weight, till it arrives at a suitable position or m to operate again, when I bear down on the lever-'handle again, and again force the platen down. This operation istepeated untlthe bale is suiiiciently compressed.

When I first begin to prese the platen down, as the cotton, Ste., is loose and requires but little e'ort to compress it, the link L can be swung out considerably, decreasing the power and increasing the velocity with which the' press will operate. But, as the platen descends, more power willbe needed, and, if necessary, at every strolce of thel lever, the distance between the fulcrum H and the weight L may be Ashortened. increasing the power to almost any extent.

The under side ofthe levers may be provided with a series of notches, o o o, it necessary, to accommodate them to be thus adjusted. A

Having thus described m'y invention, what I claim as new, and desire te secure by Letters Patent, is'- l. Operating the platen D, of n. cotton or hey-press, by means of the blocks G H, having the dogs z'z, tue

rods E E, the link L, 'and the levers J' J, all acting in co-operation with each other, in the manner and for the purposes specified. l

2. The dogs -L', euch having the arm a, and operating in combination `with the blocks IG H, rod E, und eccentric-cellar m, in the mannerand for the purpose set forth.

GREY UTLEY.

Witnesses:

GaAs. A. Pnrrnr, ,SeLoN C. linnen. 

